Started in 2004. Covers anything I find interesting, like clouds, cars and strange complex music. Views expressed are my own and not those of Battery Ventures; nothing here is intended to be investment advice. See also @adrianco

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Solar Power - "City" Inspection

We passed last week (we live outside the city, so it was actually Santa Clara County), and how have another 12 days for PG&E to put in a new time-of-use power meter and bless the installation so we can turn it on.

It took a bit of prodding for SolarCity to get the inspections setup, at least that's the way it seemed. After the install, they sent me an email saying please pay the invoice, but they hadn't sent me an invoice. I waited a few days then asked them if they were going to send me one, then they sent it. After they get paid they are supposed to schedule the inspection. They say it can take a month or so to complete the inspections. After a week or two I emailed and asked when the inspection might happen, and a few days later it was scheduled for the following week. They sent someone to wait at my house for the inspector, so we didn't need to be there, other than making sure they had access to the basement where the inverter is installed.

The ground source heat pump is taking a bit longer than hoped. The supplies have been hard to source on the West Coast, it seems that there are relatively few GSHP installations in California so far. I'm hoping to get the detailed planning approval and install done in the coming week.

1 comment:

PG&E actually came by on Monday 31st and put in a new time-of-use mete for us, it has an LCD display that cycles through several values. The basic plan is that electricity costs more on weekday afternoons, when we are running the meter backwards, and we get a cheaper rate overnight, when we are running from the grid. We fired up the system on Tuesday morning, Sept 1st.